D. Rep. Jane Harman's "jaw dropped" at 4 of 10 sexually assaulted

[ensho]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/31/military.sexabuse/index.html


Sexual assault in military 'jaw-dropping,' lawmaker says


A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.

A government report indicates that the numbers could be even higher.

-snip-

"My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military," said Harman, who has long sought better protection of women in the military.

"Twenty-nine percent say they were raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and downward spirals many of their lives have taken since.

"We have an epidemic here," she said. "Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."
-snip-
---------------------------------


honor is no longer a word the military can claim

don't let them get away with Jane - military women need you to fight for them.

[seemslikeadream]

1. LEADERSHIP FROM THE TOP

What do we expect when bush gets away with raping the whole country

[wvbygod]

19. No, I refuse to blame bush or anyone else for rape of women (or men)

Any and all people guilty of rape should have their sexual organs removed and locked up for life.

There can be NO excuse for rape. Ever.

[seemslikeadream]

20. I in NO way posted that as an excuse for what has been done

JUST THE REASON FOR IT

[robinlynne]

25. The poster syaing it is from the top is correct. They are taking people out of jail and putting them

into the military. Since day one of the Iraq war they have offered green cards to ANYONE who would go fight in Iraq. Injured people are fighting. mentally disturbed people are fighting. Those orders are exactly from the top.

[old mark]

30. I understand there are a lot of gang members in the

military over the last years - criminal record means little if you will enlist.

mark

[Jackpine Radical]

36. I sometimes think that nobody but a nutcase or a psychopath

WOULD fight there.

[rfranklin]

39. Genital mutilation? Sounds like the Taliban...

or the Christian Recontructionists.

[wvbygod]

42. Or someone serious about stopping rape

Rapists have chosen to remove themselves from society and forfeited their freedom of having sex.

[Wilber_Stool]

53. You don't want to stop rape.

You want to be saved from it. It's not going to happen. The evangelical fervor that has overtaken the military virtually encourages it. The only thing that has any chance to stop it is to pump a couple of small caliber rounds into the son of a bitch that tries to rape you. That'll knock the libido out of him and his friends. Will you have to do a little time for it? Maybe, maybe not. All it will take is for one acquittal on a self defense plea and the problem will stop.
Your not in high school any more. You can't just tell the teacher. You have to take care of this yourself. That's the way it has always been in the military. Whether it's racial, ethnic, cultural,or social differences, people have to know that if they fuck with you, you'll fuck back.

[wvbygod]

54. You are exactly correct

I have been there (murder attempt rather than rape) and paid the price of police, DA and
judicial ignorance. Thankfully, a real lawyer (bless him and his kind) exposed the attempt
of local big name favourtism and money to set me up as aggressive.

Ending the life of someone out to kill or harm you is the best start but those that
succeed at it and get caught need to pay for their ruining of others lives.

[Wilber_Stool]

55. I'm not talking about killing anyone.

A .25 cal. Saturday night special will generally not kill but just let them know they've been shot.

[peacetalksforall]

56. I imagine that those at the top in the Pentagon have a saying and a plan.

"They shouldn't have allowed women in to begin with."

The plan is - cover it up good.

They are so good at destroying lives.

War toys and war profits and no principles.

Makes it rough on those who have principles.

I'm ashamed to have such a low opinion of the brass.

Never thought I would feel so unappreciative and critical and see, not men, but monsters.

[helderheid]

2. "Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than..."

"Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."

:wow:

:mad:

When will the war on women end?!?!

[ensho]

6. the war on women will end when we women wrest leadership power

from them.

there are more women on earth then men.

[opihimoimoi]

3. This is National News and should be a priority to fix....outrageous and unacceptable...

[LiberalFighter]

4. How many of these men will be declared a military war hero?

[razors edge]

35. How many of these men will

come home and be given a gun, taser, and cruiser to "protect" and "serve"?

[MsFlorida]

5. this would be so very true

having spent time in the air force, its not a problem that just began now. its been around for a long long time. Back then, it was just glossed over, no big deal. Was wrong then and is wrong now.

[DrDan]

41. not sure what period you are referring to

but I was active early 70's and reserve through the 80's. I do not believe it was a problem to this extent at that time.

And I also believe it is a top-down problem.

[sonias]

7. "We have an epidemic here"

And it is a cancer on the military. I would be very concerned if I had a mother, daughter, sister or any female friend serving in the military right now. I think this is a symptom of a much greater sickness. And the military brass better give this their full attention and get it fixed fast. This is a horrible scar on the American conscious. This is torture of our own soldiers by their own. How can they turn a blind eye to this problem?

:grr:


Sonia

[Usrename]

8. But they are all volunteers.

They asked for it.



:hide::sarcasm:

[spanone]

9. Twenty-nine percent say they were raped during their military service. good god almighty

[malaise]

10. Frightening

sickening. This has been encouraged or ignored from the top.

[Indenturedebtor]

11. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

How in the hell could this have been allowed to go on for so long?

And you wonder what sort of attrocities that are being committed against the Iraqi and Afghani populace.... Truly sickening :puke:

[TahitiNut]

12. "honor is no longer a word the military can claim" ... not any more so than the general public!

We (the People) have populated our military with folks who have few options in life, people given a choice between enlisting and jail, people from America's least advantaged neighborhoods.

We (the People) just love to look down on others. We're so "good" that we're "better" than "them."

God forbid that we, the enlightened, EVER serve in the military. Oh, no, we're "better than that."

(Jesus!!) :puke:

[Hubert Flottz]

13. Well...

Out of jail, into the Army

Facing an enlistment crisis, the Army is granting "waivers" to an increasingly high percentage of recruits with criminal records -- and trying to hide it.

Feb. 2, 2006 | We're transforming our military. The things I look for are the following: morale, retention, and recruitment. And retention is high, recruitment is meeting goals, and people are feeling strong about the mission.

-- George W. Bush, in a Jan. 26 press conference

It was about 10 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2002, when a drug deal was arranged in the parking lot of a mini-mall in Newark, Del. The car with the drugs, driven by a man who would become a recruit for the Delaware Air National Guard, pulled up next to a parked car that was waiting for the exchange. Everything was going smoothly until the cops arrived.

"I parked and walked over to his car and got in and we were talking," the future Air Guardsman later wrote. "He asked if I had any marijuana and I said yes, that I bought some in Wilmington, Del., earlier that day. He said he wanted some." The drug dealer went on to recount in a Jan. 11, 2005, statement written to win admission into the military, "I walked back to my car as soon as I got in my car an officer put his flashlight in the window and arrested me."

Under Air National Guard rules, the dealer had committed a "major offense" that would bar him from military service. Air National Guard recruits, like other members of the military, cannot have drug convictions on their record. But on Feb. 2, 2005, the applicant who had been arrested in the mini-mall was admitted into the Delaware Air National Guard. How? Through the use of a little-known, but increasingly important, escape clause known as a waiver. Waivers, which are generally approved at the Pentagon, allow recruiters to sign up men and women who otherwise would be ineligible for service because of legal convictions, medical problems or other reasons preventing them from meeting minimum standards. MORE...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/02/02/waivers/

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Another story...

Army recruits with diplomas hit 25-year low

Analysis finds drop in quality

Snip...

In turn, the plunge in the number of volunteers has forced the Army to lower many recruiting standards to meet quotas. For example, since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the Army has granted a rising number of waivers to recruits who would ordinarily not qualify for military service, including applicants with criminal histories and significant medical conditions. According to the latest data, nearly 1 in 5 recruits it recently enlisted has required such a waiver.

Yet the Army is under pressure to keep its ranks filled. Besides fighting simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it faces strains as Congress recently approved an expansion of the force by 65,000 troops and young officers are leaving the force at an alarming rate, raising questions about the long-term health of Army leadership.

"It is the erosion of the all- volunteer Army," Larry Korb, who was assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, said in an interview yesterday. "Mothers and ministers are turning people against joining the Army."

Douglas Smith, a spokesman for Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky., acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday that the Army continues to face recruiting challenges, but he insisted that "every soldier that we put in the Army is qualified." More...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/01/23/army_recruits_with_diplomas_hit_25_year_low/

[TahitiNut]

17. Yup. People who demand "honor" and excellence in our military ...

... should enlist and show others how it's done. I served. I served with MILLIONS of honorable and excellent individuals. No person in my unit in Viet Nam would even begin to tolerate rape. Bring back the draft.
:patriot:

[Hubert Flottz]

26. I never thought that an AWOL would ever be the CiC...

BushCo/PNAC has wrecked the military for years to come and McCain can't see a thing wrong with what the AWOL has done. Remember the "Code Of Conduct"? I guess Bush never hung around long enough to read that. Maybe the Army don't post the Code of Conduct everywhere like they did when you and I served. I pity any GI who is ever taken prisoner again, after the example the neocons have set with their mistreatmentment of unarmed and restrained POWs. Even setting dogs on prisoners like the SS did in the WWII death camps. I never thought our military "leaders" would sink so low.

And Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld saying that, "draftees added "no value, no advantage" was an outrage. Rumsfeld spat his neocon venom upon every draftee that had ever answered the call that day. I guess that's how the neocons "Support the Troops" and the veterans.

[TahitiNut]

29. I agree. Rumsfeld's smear was more than outrageous, imho.

Yes, the Code of Conduct was e_v_e_r_y_w_h_e_r_e ... even though the expectation that anyone could withstand torture and not spill their guts was unreasonable and all of us knew it. Since those days, however, they have been more realistic and now generally acknowledge it's a "resist as much as you can" mandate.

TahitiNut and the military is like oil and water ... I'm just NOT one who fits in well. HOWEVER ... I still think it was right to serve, even though it was an 'avoidable' war. It the job of ALL citizens to control our own governance, and (imho) should not be some excuse for letting the less-advantaged bear the brunt. (But I've been on that soap box before.)

[tuckessee]

14. I wonder how they treat the women of the nations they've conquered? n/t

[redqueen]

46. Rape is always something troops engage in. Every army, everywhere.

http://www.hrw.org/women/docs/rapeinwar.htm

[TheWraith]

16. For some perspective, the rate of rape in the military is around 39 times higher than outside it.

The actual rate among general military is nowhere near the 29/41 figures they talk about here, but it's high.

[TahitiNut]

18. Adjusted for the age, educational, and economic demographics, it's probably very close.

It's not the uniform ... it's about WHO we're coercing to "serve" in OUR military in OUR name.

[Wednesdays]

21. Agreed...they don't screen out ones with violent tendencies

In fact, I'll wager they encourage the most violent men to enlist...ones that are rough, tough, and mean.

Thus, you get violent acts against women. We've reaped what we've sown. :(

[ensho]

45. some officers have been hiding the rapes and doing rapes themselves

isn't it the duty of the officers to keep honor clean?

[TahitiNut]

49. Ask Lt. Calley. Again, the military CANNOT be any 'better' than the general public ....

... when the general public regards them as some 'lower class' doing a job that others deem themselves 'too good' to do. The military is EXACTLY WHAT WE MAKE OF IT.

We get the government (and the military) that we deserve.

[katty]

22. Rape is an act of violence, the military is not an environment that

promotes healthy fraternization and respect between the sexes-nor counseling, negotiation and 'dealing with behavioral problems and aggression'--the military encourages aggressive attitudes and behavior in order to keep you pumped up for combat.

[EFerrari]

23. So, where have you been, Jane? This isn't a new story. n/t

[redqueen]

47. No, it's not. And it's shameful if she really is this ignorant.

I don't believe she is, though.

This is all for show.

[cyndensco]

24. I bet the sexual assaults are discounted by many of the PTB

as "boys will be boys."

[populistdriven]

27. but rapists make the best remorseless killers

[leftchick]

28. fuck DLC/AIPAC Harmon!

she is part of the fucking problem! Promoting eternal wars will no doubt produce this sort of behavior.

:grr:

[avaistheone1]

31. Yeah, but don't discount her message about gross abuse of women in the military.

[leftchick]

33. blah blah blah

she is part and parcel of the Military Industrial Complex and AIPAC. She truly does not give a crap about us or the military, it is all about empire and profit. I do not understand why people do not see what a DINO she is.

[Joanne98]

32. The religious right is using rape to get woman out of the military.

It's the clergy. Why is this so hard for people to figure out? They've been taking over the military ever since the draft was canceled. Look at all the rapes in the air force academy in Colorado Springs. Right next to ground zero. Jane Harmen, get a clue!

[JerseygirlCT]

34. This is a surprise? I guess she hasnt' been paying much

attention.

I hope she remedies that now and demands action.

I don't care how many bodies they need for their war, the perpetrators of this should be tossed in the clink and left there.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

37. Patriarchy at its best...

Let macho sexist pigs have too much influence over military culture, and this is destined to happen.

[billyoc]

38. Mass desertions is the only safe cure for this, the Pentagon cannot be trusted to stop it.

Don't get on the ship, don't get on the plane, just run for your lives.

[coalition_unwilling]

40. Methinks the lady doth protest too much . . .

Harman knew all about the torture regime (as ranking minority member on the House Intel Comittee 2001-07). She did next to nothing to stop or, at the very least, expose it.

And now she's upset at a little rape? Pshaw!

[redqueen]

48. Exactly. (nt)

[natrat]

52. another shit politician feigning surprise-so sick of these people

[kmac3]

43. Unwanted by honest evaluation . . . .

I think those "at the top" are liable because when a women come forward to report these incidents none of the chain of command want this in their records and try to sweep it all under the carpet.

Lowering the required standard for enlistment is another "at the top" responsibility and has added to the situation.

The buck has to stop somewhere ... passing it around solves nothing. :hide:

[disndat]

44. What did Rep. Harman expect?

She was one of Bush's biggest booster in Congress.

[readmoreoften]

50. More likely than killed by enemy fire? A lot more fucking likely.

[readmoreoften]

51. Are they counted the one who raped herself and beat herself to death?

Oh wait! She through acid on her genitals and knocked her teeth in before she beat herself to death. She didn't rape herself. Let me get my FACTS straight. :crazy: